


The Koenig Difference

by full_time_dreamer_behold



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I Don't Even Know, also they sleep a lot, they pine a little bit and then everything works out, this is a sleeping fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 09:52:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3352262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/full_time_dreamer_behold/pseuds/full_time_dreamer_behold
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons escape from the Med pod incident. Only, this time, it went differently, and Fitz wakes up at the same time as her. They have to confront what lies between them and decide together what the future will hold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jynersq](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jynersq/gifts).



> Hey guys! First of all, I want to thank the wonderful its-nora-borealis on tumblr for beta-ing this story. She's a great beta! Special thanks too for Emma, losingfitzsimmons on tumblr, who beta-ed my story too, and helped the francophone that I am to navigate the terrifying waters of english writing. Thanks also to calculatedmadness, Nick, who helped as my personal dictionnary all the way along. Without you guys, we all know where this story would have stayed. :)
> 
> This story is a gift for filzsimmons, my Fitzsimmons Secret Valentine. I hope you enjoy it! :D
> 
> Bravo to the Fitzsimmons Network for organizing this awesome exchange. I look forward to the next one!
> 
> I do not own any of those characters, as I did not create Agents of SHIELD. :)

Everything was on their side. The planets were aligned. Every variable had acted in their favour.

After the blast following the opening of the med pod, Jemma had given some air to Fitz. She had swam as fast as she could, and she had then been careful to keep Fitz’s head out of the water.

Nick Fury had found them as soon as Jemma’s head had appeared out of the ocean. He had gotten them in the helicopter in a record time, and had then begun an efficient CPR.

What had gone wrong, then? Had Fitz been doomed to be oxygen-deprived? Did the world have to harm him one way or another? Was there a superior mind, some kind of celestial being that had decided it would be so?

What could have made the situation different? What could have kept his brain oxygenated enough so that he wouldn’t have fallen into a coma? 

Fury had had to stop CPR on Fitz at some point to take care of Jemma… What if he hadn’t?

What if there had been someone else in the helicopter at that time? Someone who could have kept on giving Fitz oxygen, who could have kept at bay the coma that was threatening to swallow him. Someone who knew CPR. A trained, available agent.

Say, for instance… a Koenig.


	2. Chapter 2

Fitz didn’t wake up scared, or startled in a jump. He rose from his artificial sleep in a peaceful way. Opening one eye. Closing it again. His mouth was dry.

He turned around, darting his tongue to wet his lips. Obviously, he wasn’t dead. His brain did the math; yes, it was possible. That meant Jemma had probably swam at her greatest speed, and that- Jemma! Where was she?

"Easy buddy. Everything’s fine."

Turning around to face his interlocutor, Fitz was suddenly very awake. How was it possible? Agent Koenig had been killed by Ward. He was dead.

"Agent Koenig?"

"I guess there’s no need for introductions, then, if you already know my name! Happy to see you’re doing well. We were pretty worried for a while!"

"… introductions? We’ve met before! Eric Koenig! How did you…"

"Oh!" the man erupted into laughter "See, that always confuses people. I’m Bob Koenig. Eric’s my brother."

Fitz grew silent. He wasn’t going to be the one to tell him. He scanned the medical bay room for a moment, searching for another bed like his. Though, really, he was really looking for the person who might be in the bed.

"Looking for your friend, huh?" Koenig smiled. "She’s in another room. She woke up a few hours ago, but I think she fell asleep again."

"May I… get up and see her?"

"Uhm… I’m not sure. I should probably check with the medical team if…"

"I’m not going to wake her up. I just want to see if she’s all right."

Koenig frowned, then shrugged.

"It’s the door on the right. Call me if you need anything."

As the agent took his novel back from the bedside table, Fitz slowly got up. His muscles were sore, but he was still able to walk to the other room.

When Fitz found her, Jemma was sleeping peacefully. He sat by her on the empty chair that was beside her bed, marvelling at her incredible strength. He had thrown her into an impossible situation, and yet she had managed to save both of them.

She didn’t need to prove herself like he did all the time. She was so strong, and she knew it. She was such a fascinating person, an incredible woman, a…

Realizing he was feeling dizzy all of a sudden, he stopped that train of thought right there and looked for help. He wasn’t about to call out for Koenig; that would wake Jemma up. He eyed a small empty space on her bed with envy. If he could lie down for a bit, he’d then be able to return to his room.

Jemma was sound asleep when he hauled himself on her bed. The moment his head hit the pillow next to her, he knew that he wouldn’t be getting up again. He closed his eyes, and a soft smile played on his lips.


	3. Chapter 3

He also slept on her shoulder as they were coming back home. Jemma scolded herself at that thought ; it was the Bus, not home. She must have been a bit tired to have thought like that. Looking outside the car, she could see that they were almost there. Bob Koenig was with them too, driving. He had come to join their team. Although the man was a painful reminder of the death of his brother Eric, he was cheerful and easy-going; Jemma was glad he was there.

Fitz frowned in his sleep as the car hit a bump. Jemma thought she ought to wake him up soon.

She didn’t. She liked his weight on her shoulder. She tried not to think of what it might mean.


	4. Chapter 4

They hadn’t talked about it. The bomb that Fitz had dropped on her in the med pod, in the bottom of the ocean. It wasn’t like it had never happened, though. The weight of his words was still present, and he could see that it was on her mind a lot. He could also see that she wasn’t ready to talk about it. They had time, now – a thing they didn’t have before. They had all the time they needed to sort this out. He could wait.

A few nights later, Fitz had a nightmare. It wasn’t the first one, nor would it be the last. But it was so vivid, and it felt so real, that he just had to steady his heart and go see if Jemma was okay.

When he came and saw that her bunk was locked, he cursed himself for his stupidity. At that time of the night? With strangers on board of the Bus? Of course, Jemma was an intelligent woman. She’d lock the door.

Or maybe it had just been a reflex. Maybe she had always been there to open her bunk door to him, so he had just assumed she never locked it.

Brushing off the logical thoughts, he was overcome by a wave of dismay. What was he doing there, in the middle of the night, in the hallway, staring at her door? He was feeling dizzy again. He sat down in the hallway, put his face in his hands, and closed his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a whole 24 hours since Jemma had found Fitz sleeping on the corridor floor. Fitz knew that she worried about him. He also knew that his late behavior wasn't very reassuring. She'd left her door unlocked this time. Fitz supposed it was so that he could get inside if he had another nightmare.

But tonight was painfully calm. The nightmares weren't his problem... it was that he couldn't sleep. He tried everything. Fitz had never been prone to insomnia; he was the world's easiest sleeper. He could sleep anytime, anyplace. For instance, on Jemma's shoulder, in a car, his brain reminded him bitterly.

No. There was no way he'd be "dependent little Leo Fitz". He wasn't going to give in. Tonight, he'd sleep alone.

He picked without great interest the novel that agent Koenig had suggested. Fitz wasn't in the mood for reading right now, but Bob Koenig had insisted that it would help. He had lent him a love story... "Read it," he said. "It'll take your mind off whatever's going on in your brain right now," he said.

Of course, it didn't.

After a few pages, he decided that he wasn't going to take relationship advice from a paperback romance. Fitz reached to put it back on the bedside table. That was when he heard it.

Heavy breathing, coming from Jemma's bunk. Intrigued, he scooted closer to the wall and listened. His curiosity turned to worry when he heard her mumble something akin to his name. She was panicking and... and crying. Jemma was crying.

He got up and went straight to her bunk. He knocked, and when there was no answer, he went inside. He saw his powerful, strong Jemma, shivering and sweating. Her sheets were on the floor and she was breathing like she was suffocating. Fitz sighed; she must have been having the same nightmares as him. When he put his hand on her shoulder, a small, broken sob came out of her.

Awkwardness be damned, he thought. I'm not going to sit there and pat her shoulder. This situation needed more than just words. He had to figure out exactly how to make Jemma feel better.

Jemma liked warmth, he thought. She liked tea and fire and Christmas sweaters. So, Fitz picked up her sheets on the floor and covered her small, shivering body. As an afterthought, he added one of the spare blankets. She could use some more heat when he was back in his room.

Jemma liked singing. She loved to sing along when she made tea for the both of them. Songs brought back good memories, so Fitz started to hum.

He laid down next to her and his voice wobbled a little. Jemma, still asleep, grabbed his hand between hers and squeezed it for dear life. Fitz steadied his voice and started to sing.

" It was written that I would love you  
From the moment I opened my eyes  
And the minute when I first saw you  
Gave me life under calico skies  
I will hold you  
For as long as you’d like  
I’ll hold you…  
For the rest of my life- "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that is sung by Fitz at the end is a beautiful lullaby by Paul McCartney. You can listen to it here (I highly recommend it): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqu1e_Mdhqs


	6. Chapter 6

The last thing Jemma wanted to think about was paperwork.

First of all, she hadn't slept well last night. Or the night before. Or any night since the accident. As a matter of fact, she wasn't in good shape these days.

Then, there was Fitz. He had obviously been having nightmares too: every time he fell asleep, he woke up in a sweat. He was also more agitated than usual... And there was something else.

Every night since the incident, Fitz had ended up sleeping with her. Those were, as she could observe, the only times he managed to get some real sleep. But… she would always be there to help her best friend. If that was what he needed her to do, she'd do it without any hesitation. Anyway, it wasn't like they hadn't already fallen asleep together… On a lab table, during one of their many movie marathons. Sleeping beside each other wasn't new.

That wasn't what was bothering her. No, she didn't mind that.

The thing that perturbed her was that she seemed to need his presence as much as he needed hers.

She had always known that there was potential for a relationship between them. She had thought about it a lot, during long lab hours or Doctor Who marathons, and what Fitz had confessed in the med pod only confirmed what she already knew. Fitz loved her.

And what she was slowly, methodically realizing was that it might just be the same for her.

So no, she was definitely not in the mood for paperwork right now.

She didn't have a choice, though. Coulson had given her the incident report yesterday, and it was already overdue. Jemma knew that Coulson had been deeply affected by the fall of SHIELD. He had given his whole life to that organization. She didn't mind that he kept some of the old protocols in the new structure. She knew how much it helped him: she herself had once found comfort in the rules. Coulson took care of them all… they had to take care of him too. So the paperwork would be on his desk by tomorrow, even if it was already 11:00 pm.

But she had no idea what to write.

Their conversation in the med pod had been a decisive moment. She would have to include it into the report.

She remembered the anti-fraternization rule, though she didn't know if it was still enforced. It forbade relationships between agents who had to work together. She knew it well; she had mulled that rule over and over, trying to find some way around it. The only possible way that Fitz and her could try was if nobody knew about it. And there, of course, came Coulson's incident report.

She had two options. She could lie... and arouse suspicion because she wasn't a good liar. Or she could tell the truth and possibly end any chance of her and Fitz getting any closer. That was her dilemma. That was why Jemma Simmons was brooding over an incident report in the middle of the night.

Agent Koenig, of course, did not know that when he entered the lab. According to what he said, he had lost himself between there and the kitchen.

"Man, this plane is gigantic! Didn't you ever, like, lose yourself on the way to the bathroom? Last time, I was going to take a shower, and I ended up in the cockpit. Melinda May was there! Can you imagine my embarrassment? I was in my bathrobe, in front of the Cavalry!"

"Don't call her that," snapped Jemma, unpleased with the interruption.

"Sorry. Didn’t mean to offend. Anyway, what's keeping you up so late?" he responded.

Jemma let out a deep sigh, got up and started pacing to activate the circulation in her legs.

"Paperwork for Coulson. I just don’t know what to write."

"The incident report? Well, I was on the rescue site, I can help if you want," Koenig offered.

Jemma bit her lip and frowned, which immediately gave her away to agent Koenig. He knew she was hiding something.

"Is there something I don’t know? How about we sit down, you tell me about the events and I’ll help you write the report?"

"Agent Koenig, I appreciate it but-"

"C’mere. I’ll make you tea," the man said in a gleeful tone that gave her no choice but to accept.


	7. Chapter 7

Jemma ended up telling everything to Koenig. That wasn’t what she had intended to do in the beginning, of course. She knew that he could go and tell everything to Coulson. But then there was tea for her and hot chocolate for him, and he was there, comforting and peaceful... The words just slipped out of her mouth.

She told him about how it was before the incident, what had happened, who had done it. She told him about Ward, about the treason, about the long, terrifying fall to their certain death. She told him about the hope that Fitz had given her, only to take it back by admitting that there was only enough air for one. She told him how he was okay in the end but how close it had been. She told him about her worries, her concerns, her fears, and then, she told him about the report.

Bob Koenig’s sympathetic face, rendered even more inoffensive by a hot chocolate moustache, tightened into a kind smile when she stopped talking. He lowered his voice.

"You know, this problem seems pretty easy to solve to me."

"Oh, how?" Jemma answered in a high-pitched voice.

"Well, you love this guy, and he gave you the last breath of air because he loves you. Now, everybody knows you two are like, the best friends ever, huh? Well, it seems to me like you don’t have to be sleeping with someone to want them safe…"

"…so you want me to write the things as they are in the report, and then…"

"…. If everybody knows how you two are inseparable, they'll understand why he did it!"

"Oh, that's true. You’re right, agent Koenig."

Koenig smiled and gulped down the rest of his hot chocolate.

"Please, call me Bob. Need any more help with the paperwork? Anything I can do? I won’t sleep for a while after drinking all that chocolate…"

"No thank you! I’ll finish it and go straight to bed."

"Good luck, then," he said as he disappeared through the door.


	8. Chapter 8

Jemma had just gone to put the papers on Coulson’s empty desk when the clock hit midnight. She walked up to her bunk even though she knew that she wouldn’t be sleeping well. Koenig had put her mind at ease about the paperwork, but nightmares were still lurking around her bed.

That was until she passed by Fitz’s bunk and saw that the lights were still on.

What did that mean? Was he just unable to sleep or did he have a nightmare? She stopped in her tracks. Yes, or he could be watching a movie, or working on a new design. He was a big boy after all, he could stay up late if he wanted (and it wouldn’t be the first time). But then again, was it reasonable to stay up that late? Shouldn’t she… go in and tell him he ought to go to sleep? If he just had a nightmare…

“Jemma, you’re making up excuses to go and see him”, she whispered to herself.

Gathering up all her courage, she went up to her friend’s bunk and knocked.


	9. Chapter 9

They talked a lot that night. They talked about what they were going through, they talked about what lay ahead; they told each other their insecurities, their concerns, their deepest, darkest fears. Then, when they were both too tired to do anything other than hold each other tight and whisper in each other’s ear how important they were, they lay down on the bed and curled up together, sharing heat, thoughts and the air around them. They slept soundly that night.


	10. Epilogue

Agent Koenig turned around to see if nobody was listening, then moved forward so that only he and Agent Triplett could hear what he was about to say.

"Then, you know what? I found the both of them asleep in his bunk!"

Trip let out a small wheezing laugh, his fingers tapping on his beer.

"But you didn’t wake them up?" he asked.

"How could I? Man, the two of them were the most adorable sight since that kitten-burrito tumblr post. I couldn’t. I closed the door to their bunk and told Coulson they were somewhere else." Koenig sipped his coke and smirked "And you know what the fun part is? They’re going to be sweet like that for awhile now. I have my sources, but I think there was a love confession a few weeks ago!"

"Noooo!" Trip exclaimed. "Man, I thought it would still take a couple of years, or a near-death experience, or something like that!"

Koenig choked a bit on his drink, then recomposed himself and laughed.

"Well, I guess they thought the circumstances were good. I don’t know… I’m just waiting for a happy announcement. Anytime now, I’ll bet you."

"But hey, what about the anti-frat SHIELD policy? Wouldn’t Coulson be a bit mad at the idea of his two head scientists… fladoodling?"

"Oh, I wouldn’t mind that old rule too much…"

"What?!" Trip croaked. "You mean…"

"…Mmmh yeah."

"And Coulson…"

"Coulson?" Koenig laughed. "Coulson’s been hoping for this to happen since he ever laid eyes on them!"


End file.
